UK weather record

UK suffers wettest winter on record

Met Office announces rainfall of 486.8mm from 1 December to 19 February – the wettest winter in records dating to 1910

the Guardian,

20 February, 2014

The UK has suffered its wettest winter in records dating back more than a century, the Met Office has announced.

Figures for 1 December to 19 February show that the UK has had 486.8mm (19.2 in) of rain, making it the wettest winter in records dating back to 1910, beating the previous record set in 1995 of 485.1mm (19.1 in).

Wales, east Scotland, and south-west, south-east and central-southern England have all seen record amounts of rainfall, and all areas of the UK are on target for a warmer-than-average winter.

Two severe flood warnings remain in place for the Somerset Levels, which has been one of the worst-hit areas this winter, suffering prolonged flooding in the face of repeated storms and heavy rain.

Across the rest of southern and central England, the risk of flooding is receding as river levels fall, including along the Thames and Severn, the Environment Agency said.

But properties in areas including Windsor and Maidenhead, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Wokingham and West Berkshire could remain flooded for some time.

And with more unsettled weather on the way, the risk of flooding will be slow to disappear, the Environment Agency warned.

There are 75 flood warnings and 121 less serious flood alerts currently in place across England and Wales. Groundwater is continuing to rise, with ongoing flooding in parts of Greater London, Kent, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset.

Met Office spokeswoman Laura Young said showers and some heavier rain are expected along with sunny spells over the next few days, and a band of rain will move across the UK on Sunday, mainly focusing on the west.

The Environment Agency has announced that dredging on the Somerset Levels is to start next month as soon as it is safe and practical to do so.

Five miles of river channel where the Tone and Parrett rivers meet at Burrowbridge – an area identified by local people for dredging and where significant amounts of silt have built up – will be dredged, the agency said.

The announcement comes in the wake of a row over the prolonged flooding of the Somerset Levels, in which local people and MPs accused the government and Environment Agency of ignoring repeated calls for dredging to reduce flood risk.

Work will be ready to start by the end of March provided water levels in the area drop and the banks and adjacent land are dry enough for excavators to work safely, according to the Environment Agency.

Paul Leinster, chief executive of the Environment Agency, said: "We plan to start dredging by the end of March, as long as the contractors deem it is safe to do so.

"We are committed to dredging as part of a broader package of work to protect people, property and land in Somerset."

Officials and ministers have faced criticism that two decades of under-investment in flood defence work had turned the Somerset Levels into a disaster area, and that repeated calls to dredge before the floods went unheeded.

It's not over yet

Here we go again of Ireland and the UK.

Swell size forecast for tomorrow, 9h UTC for the British Isles, Iceland and the west coast of Europe. Ireland may expect waves up to 10 m high as winds from the combined double low reach storm strength west of Ireland.

Source: Magicseaweed.com